If you’ve missed one payment:

• Making a partial payment is recommended
• Your loan is considered delinquent and late fees start to accrue
• Call your lender and a certified housing counselor
• Gather your paperwork

If you’ve missed your payment two months in a row

• After the second month ends, partial payments are generally not accepted.
• Late fees continue to accrue
• Call your lender and a certified housing counselor
• Gather your paperwork

Call Your Lender

Look for a number on the mail you receive from your mortgage company. Ask if you qualify for alternatives to foreclosure, including repayments plans, postponements or regular payments (called forbearance), and other workout options.

Contact a Certified Housing Counselor

Most HUD-approved counselors provide free counseling services and many more provide low-cost counseling.  Do not agree to work with a counselor who collects a fee BEFORE providing any services or who accepts payment only by cashier’s check or wire transfer. 

Find Counselors Here

Gather Your Paperwork

Here’s the suggested paperwork you should gather:

• Copies of mortgage documentation
• Proof of income
• The delinquency or foreclosure notices you’ve received 
• Info about your expenses including car payment, insurance, cable, phone, and other bills

Victim of predatory Lending?

Seek legal counsel if you think you have been a victim of predatory lending which means your mortgage broker suggested a loan amount that you would not be able to pay or encouraged repeated refinancing of a loan, charging high interest and fees each time.